Route to Retire ...the path to financial independence

Switching to Ezoic Increased My Ad Income by 628%!

16 Comments / Self-Employment, Blogging, Here's Why I'm Liking..., Product and Service Reviews / Jim @ Route To Retire / August 3, 2021

I switched the ads on my website from Google AdSense to Ezoic a few months ago and I have to say that I’m astounded by the results! Seeing an increase in ad revenue of over 7x what I was making before is pretty crazy. Let’s start with this though – I’m not a big-time blogger. If you think this site was the catalyst for us to reach early retirement… yeah, not so much. The money we’re talking about is still

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A Travel Trick for Last-Minute Delayed or Canceled Flights

16 Comments / Travel and Vacation, Life in Early Retirement / Jim @ Route To Retire / July 20, 2021

Delayed or canceled flights are in no way a fun part of travel. These events can be a real headache in your plans that might already be stressful to you before this curveball. And, although they can usually be dealt with without too much of a problem when there’s a fair amount of notice, that’s not always going to be the case. Sometimes a delayed flight can ruin your connecting flight completely. And last-minute canceled flights can throw your plans

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Our Travel Perks Are Drying Up and That’s Big $$$!

11 Comments / Travel and Vacation, Life in Early Retirement, Spending / Jim @ Route To Retire / July 13, 2021

Between free flights and hotels, zipping through security and customs, or relaxing in airline lounges, travel perks can be such a wonderful asset. And without a doubt, I love every bit of ’em! Over the years, we built up a nice stash of these things just by being strategic in our credit card spending. They’ve not only helped to make our travel more comfortable but also a lot cheaper or completely free. Well, it’s been a few years, but our

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An Example of the Cost of Healthcare in Panama

27 Comments / Panama, Health and Fitness, Insurance / Jim @ Route To Retire / July 6, 2021

The cost of healthcare in the United States is insane. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb and say that the whole U.S. system is essentially broken. As a country, we pride ourselves on trying to be the best in the world. But healthcare is one of those areas where the U.S. has not only fallen short but it’s gone off a giant cliff that seems impossible to climb back up from. If you look at the rest of

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Our Moving Plans Changed Again… and That’s OK

16 Comments / Life in Early Retirement, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Panama, Travel and Vacation / Jim @ Route To Retire / June 29, 2021

Moving plans are generally immensely stressful. Trying to coordinate everything to fall into place as smoothly as possible can be extremely complex. Depending on your scenario, it could involve a lot of juggling. Maybe you have to hire a real estate agent to sell your home and coordinate house showings around your work schedule and home life. Make sure to keep your house immaculate while strangers traipse through it without you even being there. Don’t forget about the pain of

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What I Did During My First Week Off in 6 Years!

12 Comments / Life in Early Retirement, Blogging, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Panama / Jim @ Route To Retire / June 22, 2021

It took a lot for me to not write a blog post last week. After not missing a single week for over 6 years, it’s just became ingrained into my weekly routine. So my first week off gave me a little bit of a strange feeling. I generally write the following week’s post sometime later in the week. However, I don’t usually get it completely done in one sitting. I might start a post on Thursday and work on it

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Giving Myself Permission To Breathe

43 Comments / Blogging, General Thoughts / Jim @ Route To Retire / June 8, 2021

After over 6 years of consistent blogging, it’s time to give myself some permission to breathe. Before I continue, know that I’m not done blogging – far from it. Writing on Route to Retire is something I still thoroughly enjoy doing and will continue to do for as long as that’s the case. However, it’s still something that takes a lot of time each week to do. And unfortunately, time is a finite resource for each and every one of

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Finding Happiness Once You Leave the Rat Race

28 Comments / Motivation, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Life in Early Retirement / Jim @ Route To Retire / June 1, 2021

I remember thinking that finding happiness would be instantaneous once I left my career behind. After all, work was the time-suck in my life that was holding me back. Back in 2010, I was crushed when I had to go back to work after the short vacation I took once my daughter was born. My 9-5 was in the way of everything and I wanted out. Fast forward to my first day of early retirement on January 1, 2019, and

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One of My Favorite Ways To Learn How To Save Money

8 Comments / Product and Service Reviews, Consumer Protection, Education, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Investments, Saving, Spending / Jim @ Route To Retire / May 25, 2021

Those of you on the path to financial independence know there are only two ways to fatten your wallet: make more money or spend less. Today, I want to focus on telling you about an invaluable tool to learn how to save money. Most folks tend to start with cutting out the excess spending in their lives simply because it can be much easier than chasing after making more money. Regardless, both areas can be largely worthwhile and beneficial for

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Designing Our New Life – The Power of Early Retirement

42 Comments / Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), General Thoughts, Life in Early Retirement, Road Trip, Travel and Vacation / Jim @ Route To Retire / May 18, 2021

Change. I thrive on it. It’s the only way to continue to learn, grow, and become better. On the flip side, I think that complacency is just the path to a slow death. That’s why, as much as I know I’m going to miss Boquete, I’m excited to map out our new life for next year. We’ll be moving back to the U.S. in May of 2022. Although a year seems like a long way off, it’s time to start

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